Authorities launched a search for a missing person Monday afternoon after learning that a car had tumbled hundreds of feet down a steep cliff near Point Mugu two days earlier.
It’s unclear why one of the occupants of the vehicle waited days to report the incident, which took place off of Deer Creek Road northwest of the Malibu border on Saturday, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
The individual who eventually reported the crash managed to self-extricate from the mangled car and leave the scene in another vehicle — but did not call 911 that night, the Fire Department said.
Firefighters told OnScene.TV that a white Cadillac SUV rolled over multiple times before coming to rest on its roof 1,000 feet below the road.
On Monday afternoon, the occupant reported that two people who were in the car during the incident were missing, and a search was launched. Shortly after the search began, one of the passengers was located at home, the Fire Department said.
Authorities continued to search for the third occupant into the night using a helicopter, drones, K-9 teams and search-and-rescue crews, according to officials.
The California Department of Justice is opening an investigation into the fatal shooting by Santa Ana police of a man armed with a fake rifle on Sunday, authorities said.
The Santa Ana Police Department responded to reports of a man loading a rifle near Broadway and 2nd streets at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the department. After arriving on scene, two officers shot the man multiple times, said department spokesperson Officer Natalie Garcia.
The man, identified only as a 30 years old and Latino, was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead, police said. No more details about the shooting were released, including whether the man pointed the rifle at the responding police officers.
The rifle the man was reported to be carrying turned out to be an airsoft gun, a nonlethal replica firearm that shoots plastic pellets and is often used for games like paintball, police said. There were no reports of bystanders or officers harmed during the incident and a critical incident debrief will be released in the coming weeks, police said.
On Monday, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced that the California Department of Justice will conduct an independent review of the shooting in accordance with Assembly Bill 1506, which requires the department to investigate all incidents of an officer-involved shooting resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian in the state.
After the DOJ’s California Police Shooting Investigation Team completes the investigation, the report will be turned over to DOJ’s Special Prosecutions Section within the Criminal Law Division for independent review and possible criminal charges.
Before AB 1506 was signed into law in September 2020, these incidents were handled by local law enforcement agencies and district attorney offices.
The goal of transferring investigations to the DOJ was to increase trust between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve by having an independent body review incidents and determine possible criminal liability.
Under AB 1506, the DOJ is required to publicly release information about investigations and eventually publish its determination on criminal prosecutions. If criminal charges are not deemed appropriate, the DOJ will release a report with an explanation of what took place during the incident and why criminal charges were not pursued as well as recommendations to improve the practices of the law enforcement agency involved.
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers met at the state Capitol Monday to devise a plan to shield the state from President-elect Donald Trump’s conservative policies, including his vows to repeal environmental protections and initiate mass deportations.
The goal of the special legislative session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom is to establish a $25 million fund for legal challenges to federal polices that the governor said could “harm the state,” including when it comes to civil rights, abortion access and immigration.
But with Trump’s return as president, the politics of leading the resistance are trickier as Democrats assess how they lost the White House and grapple with why support for Trump in California increased since the 2020 election despite his felony convictions, pattern of lies and role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol after his loss to President Biden.
Legislative leaders — under pressure to prove that the special session is more than just political theater, as alleged by some Republicans — tried to balance their concerns about a second Trump term with state issues important to constituents such as the rising cost of living.
As the Legislature welcomed 35 new members — including a record number of women — Democrats, who maintain a supermajority, said the legal preparation was a necessary precaution. During Trump’s first term as president, California filed more than 100 lawsuits against the federal government, winning protections for undocumented people who came to the U.S. as children and securing clean air rules.
“If Washington, D.C., refuses to tackle climate change in the coming four years, mark my word that California will continue to lead as we always have,” Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) said on the Senate floor Monday. “Because here in the Golden State, we fight to lift up every person, no matter your background, no matter your skin color, who you are, who you love and how you identify.”
As lawmakers introduced bills that tighten up abortion rights and further affirm California as the Trump antithesis, California leaders were more tempered in their messaging and put their focus on bipartisan pocketbook issues.
“Our constituents don’t feel that the state of California is working for them,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) said Monday, pointing to last month’s election, in which voters rejected progressive backed measures and revoked prison reform laws.
Rivas reduced the limit of bills allowed to be introduced and requested that all proposals focus on “affordability and prosperity.”
The speaker vowed to continue to protect Californians from any federal overreach targeting their rights.
“If LGBTQ people come under attack, if hard-working immigrants are targeted, if women’s reproductive freedom is threatened, we will fight back with everything we have,” Rivas said.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said if the Legislature approves the legal fund, it will be used to pay attorneys and other staff ready to take action in court immediately if Trump does anything the state believes is unlawful.
The proposed $25 million is “a start,” Bonta said.
“If there are no cases for us to bring because the Trump administration is acting completely lawfully, we won’t use any of it. We don’t expect that, based on what he did in the past — what he has said he will do,” Bonta said at a news conference in Sacramento on Monday. “Under Trump 2.0, we believe we will need to use all of it.”
California has been here before. Eight years ago, the legislative session kicked off with a similar motto, as Democratics rushed to thwart Trump’s policies, introducing bills that aimed to protect immigrants from deportation threats similar to proposals coming from the administration now.
“Californians do not need healing. We need to fight,” then-Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said in December 2016, calling Trump’s appointments then “white nationalists and antisemites” who “have no business working in the White House.”
Republicans tried to block the approval of the special session that kicked off Monday, painting it as an out-of-touch strategy and urging Democrats to avoid panic and resist egging on the federal government.
“The people of California sent a clear message during this election season. They are done with the majority party’s failure to address the most important issues we face and they are ready for a return to commonsense, solution-focused governing,” said Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-Santee). “We are thrilled to see Californians standing up against the Democrat machine and declaring, ‘enough is enough.’”
Even Newsom — an ever-willing Trump foe — has shifted his messaging after Republicans won the White House, Senate and House in the November election. In a statement on Monday, the governor said the special session is about “setting this state up for success” regardless of who is in the White House.
“We will work with the incoming administration, and we want President Trump to succeed in serving all Americans,” Newsom said. “But when there is overreach, when lives are threatened, when rights and freedoms are targeted, we will take action.”
Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) introduced a bill on Monday that would repeal taxes on car seats and baby wipes — a bill he said “pro family” Republicans should support. He said members of his party need to “slow down” as they promise to lead the Trump resistance, and focus on policy that helps people instead of talking points.
“I think it’s different this time. No one’s growing their base attacking Trump right now,” Bryan said. “You can do real policy work and not just play politics with it.”
California water managers have announced their preliminary forecast of supplies that will be available next year from the State Water Project, telling 29 public agencies to plan for as little as 5% of requested allotments.
The state Department of Water Resources said Monday that the initial allocation is based on current reservoir levels and conservative assumptions about how much water the state may be able to deliver in 2025.
“We need to prepare for any scenario, and this early in the season we need to take a conservative approach to managing our water supply,” DWR Director Karla Nemeth said.
Last year, the state’s initial forecast was 10% of requested supplies, but the allocation was increased to 40% in the spring.
Officials said the initial water supply forecast does not take into account the series of storms that drenched much of the state in the last two weeks of November. The storms pushed precipitation to above-average levels in Northern California for this time of year.
“Based on long-range forecasts and the possibility of a La Niña year, the State Water Project is planning for a dry 2025 punctuated by extreme storms like we’ve seen in late November,” Nemeth said. “What we do know is that we started the water year following record heat this summer and in early October that parched the landscape.”
She said officials considered runoff forecasts that account for how the hot, dry conditions in the summer and October left parched soils. When soils are too dry, runoff from the mountain snowpack will typically be soaked up by the ground, reducing the amount of water flowing in streams and rivers to reservoirs.
A weak La Niña is forecast to appear this winter, and NOAA forecasters have said the pattern will likely bring drier-than-average conditions in much of the Southwest. They have also said, however, that the outlook is uncertain for much of California.
The State Water Project’s aqueducts and pipelines transport water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to 29 water agencies that supply 27 million people.
State officials update the allocation monthly, and may increase their forecast based on the rainfall, snowpack and reservoir levels. A final allocation for the State Water Project is typically announced by May or June.
The head of the L.A. city agency overseeing animal shelters is stepping down, according to an city email sent Monday to shelter volunteers and animal advocates.
Staycee Dains resigned effective November 30, assistant general manager Annette Ramirez, wrote in the email, which was viewed by The Times. Ramirez wrote that she had been appointed interim general manager by Mayor Karen Bass.
Dains, who earned about $272,730, did not immediately respond to an email and phone message.
She had been on paid leave since August. Officials had declined to explain why she took a leave, leading to uncertainty about the agency’s leadership.
Bass, when asked about Dains’ future in October, declined to tell The Times whether she was looking for a new general manager. Bass added that Ramirez, who was tasked with leading the agency during Dain’s absence, was “performing absolutely fine.”
Bass announced Dains’ hiring in June 2023, touting her arrival as part of the mayor’s effort to turn around Animal Services, which faces chronic problems including overcrowding and staff shortages. Agnes Sibal, a spokesperson for L.A. Animal Services, said earlier this year that the crowding had reached crisis levels with “nowhere to house incoming dogs.”
During her tenure, Dains helped speed up the approval of new volunteers, who help care for the animals.
At the same time, she faced criticism as more dogs and cats were put down by the city. From January to September, 1,224 dogs were euthanized at the city’s six shelters — a 72% increase compared with the same period a year ago, according to a Times analysis.
About 1,517 cats were euthanized through September— a 17% increase from a year ago.
In overcrowded shelters, dogs can go weeks without a walk and may live in feces-covered kennels, and some animals start behaving poorly and suffer “mental and emotional breakdown,” according to a report by Best Friends Animal Society, a rescue group that has long worked with the city shelters.
Animal welfare consultant Kristen Hassen, whose firm was recently hired to assess the shelters, has described the higher euthanasia rates among dogs as an “over-correction” by the department.
Dains previously worked as director of Animal Care Services in Long Beach and as shelter operations manager at San Jose’s Animal Care and Services, according to her resume.
The family of a missing Hawaii woman, Hannah Kobayashi, has strongly disputed the statement made by LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell that Kobayashi “intentionally” missed her connecting flight at Los Angeles International Airport.
Kobayashi went missing Nov. 8 after catching a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles, with a connecting flight that would ultimately take her to New York, where she planned to visit relatives. Her family became worried after she landed at LAX and sent them cryptic text messages, suggesting that someone was trying to steal her money and identity. No one has heard from her since.
McDonnell briefed the L.A. Police Commission about the case during a Nov. 26 meeting.
“On Friday, November 8th, 23-year-old Hannah Kobayashi missed her connecting flight from LAX to New York, which the investigation determined was intentional,” McDonnell said.
Kobayashi’s sister, Sydni, responded to the statement in a social media post, disputing the development in the case and pointing out that McDonnell incorrectly gave Kobayashi’s age, which is actually 30 years old. Kobayashi’s family also said McDonnell gave an incorrect timeline of Kobayashi’s disappearance.
“Based on information, surveillance footage reviewed and information shared with us, these are the facts known to my mother and I: It does not appear that Hannah intentionally missed her flight,” Sydni Kobayashi wrote.
“The lack of communication surrounding some important details has left us feeling excluded from potentially crucial developments,” Sydni Kobayashi’s statement said. “However, we do remain hopeful and optimistic that the Los Angeles Police Department is doing everything in their power to assist us in locating Hannah.”
According to Kobayashi’s family, she landed at LAX on Nov. 8 and missed her connecting flight to New York City because of a short layover. Kobayashi stayed overnight in Los Angeles and was seen the next day at the Taschen bookstore at the Grove, an open-air shopping mall in the Fairfax District.
On Nov. 10, Kobayashi was captured on video outside of a Nike event near the Grove and was believed to have returned to LAX, according to her family’s statement.
On Nov. 11, Kobayashi was seen talking to a ticketing agent at LAX; she then boarded the LAX Metro C line at the Aviation/Century station around 9 p.m., her family wrote. She transferred at the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station and was seen in video footage leaving the Pico station with an unknown person.
On Nov. 12, Kobayashi was captured again on video footage at the Greyhound bus terminal at Union Station in downtown L.A. around 6:30 a.m., according to her family.
LAPD spokesperson Jeff Lee confirmed that the agency is still investigating Kobayashi’s disappearance as an active missing persons case. He said there were no updates to share Monday morning.
Anyone with more information has been asked to contact the LAPD at (877) 527-3247.
After Kobayashi’s disappearance, her father, Ryan, flew to Los Angeles to help look for his daughter. The elder Kobayashi was found dead last week near LAX in what police say was an apparent suicide.
The body of Ryan Kobayashi, 58, was found in a parking lot in the 6100 block of Century Boulevard. According to the Los Angeles County medical examiner, the elder Kobayashi died from blunt force traumatic injuries.
“Our hearts go out to the Kobayashi family during this unimaginable time of grief,” McDonnell said during the Police Commission meeting. “We remain fully committed to locating Hannah and supporting the family as they navigate their way through this tragedy.”
On a fall morning in East L.A. in 1974, Dolores Madrigal and her husband, Orencio, ate breakfast while listening to ranchera radio station KWKW when a news segment aired that would change her life.
The couple heard about how 100 people had protested in front of Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center to decry the hospital’s years-long practice of sterilizing low-income women without their consent. The rally came in the wake of a lawsuit filed against the Boyle Heights hospital by three Mexican American women who alleged they were victims.
After hearing the story, the 40-year-old Madrigal wondered out loud to her husband: Was she one of those women?
The previous year, they had welcomed the birth of their second son, Sergio, at the hospital. Before going into labor, however, Madrigal shooed off a wave of nurses who asked if she wanted to have her fallopian tubes tied. She finally signed a form in the haze of her pre-labor pains, then quickly forgot about it.
A visit to the hospital the day after the KWKW report confirmed that the document authorized doctors to sterilize Madrigal.
She and her husband had dreams of a large family. Instead, Orencio turned to alcohol. Dolores sunk into such a depression that others had to take care of her young sons for months.
But when lawyers representing Mexican American survivors of forced sterilization tracked her down in 1975 and asked if she wanted to join a class-action lawsuit against County-USC alleging doctors had violated their clients’ civil rights to bear children, Madrigal quickly said yes. She became the lead plaintiff.
“Dolores emerged as kind of the cheerleader for the group,” said Antonia Hernández, former head of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the California Community Foundation. She was one of the lawyers who represented the 10 women who joined the case, formally titled Madrigal vs. Quilligan. “She’d say, ‘They did this to us, y no está bien [and it’s not right].”
The lawsuit was unsuccessful but proved a landmark. The California Department of Health soon after began to offer sterilization information in English and Spanish. Hernández became a civil rights icon who focused on fighting for Latinos through most of her career. Gloria Molina, the chair of a Chicana group that had agreed to bear any legal costs for the plaintiffs and appeared alongside Madrigal at a press conference announcing the lawsuit, went on to forge a pioneering career as a Eastside politician.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors formally apologized in 2018 to all women forcibly sterilized at County-USC. A monument in their name was dedicated there four years later. Madrigal vs. Quilligan continues to be taught in universities and retold in academic books as a cautionary tale of eugenics and public health gone wrong, its plaintiffs hailed as reproductive-rights heroines.
Dolores Madrigal, right, with Gloria Molina at a news conference in 1975 announcing a class-action suit against Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center alleging they sterilized 10 Latino patients without their consent.
(Ben Olender/Los Angeles Times)
“Dolores’ courage was tremendous,” said Virginia Espino, who wrote about the case in her 2007 doctoral dissertation. “She literally defended our right to exist.”
But when Espino decided soon afterward to co-produce a documentary, “No Más Bebés,” about the case, its namesake was nowhere to be found.
Espino asked parishioners at Sacred Heart Church in Lincoln Heights, where Madrigal had faithfully attended Mass for decades, about her whereabouts and put the word out in other Catholic parishes across Los Angeles. A private detective finally found Madrigal living in Las Vegas with her oldest son, Oren, who didn’t learn about his mother’s tragic, historic past until answering the investigator’s call.
“I asked my mom, ‘How come you never told me?’ and she really didn’t have an answer,” Oren told The Times in a recent interview. “But maybe it was better that she didn’t because a younger me would’ve been way too angry. I’m still angry. But after she told me, I wanted to take care of my mom and her trauma more than ever.”
Dolores Madrigal passed away Nov. 9 in Las Vegas of natural causes. She was 90.
She was born in the small town of Villa Purificación, Mexico, and migrated to the United States in 1965. Madrigal legalized her status with the help of a white family for whom Dolores took care of their developmentally disabled son, according to Oren.
In East L.A., she reunited with her childhood sweetheart, Orencio. They married in 1971, and had their sons one year after the other.
“He was so happy,” Madrigal said of her husband in “No Más Bebes,” as home footage showed her cooking in their kitchen and Orencio playing with their sons. After the couple found out about her surreptitious sterilization, “All our plans came tumbling down.”
Hernández first met Madrigal in 1975, cold-knocking on her door after finding out about Madrigal’s plight from documents given to her by a County-USC whistleblower.
“She had this lust for life — happy, vivacious and a don’t-take-crap-from-nobody attitude,” Hernández recalled. “The one you couldn’t break down when you had to testify.”
That’s what County-USC lawyers tried to do during the trial, which was heard before a federal judge because the legal team for the 10 women didn’t think they’d get a fair trial from a jury. At one point, defense lawyers produced the document Madrigal had signed just before giving birth to Sergio, which featured her signature next to the phrase “No más hijos por vida” — no more children for life. Madrigal responded she didn’t recall signing the paper but reiterated “she was in bad pain and very frightened” at the time, according to Hernández’s notes of the deposition.
The retired attorney said she stayed in touch only intermittently with Madrigal after the case because “the pain was too much for everyone involved.”
Madrigal went on to work as a teacher’s aide at Lincoln High in Lincoln Heights before leaving in the mid-1980s to care for her ailing husband and their two sons, who had joined gangs.
“Me and my brother are still alive because of my mom’s prayers,” Oren said. “When I was in jail, she used to be one of the first people to stand in line — she would do it for six, seven hours just to see us for 15 minutes. She didn’t have much money, but she would send it all to us.”
After living in the Los Angeles area for decades, Madrigal relocated to Las Vegas in the 2000s to be near a sister while her sons served their sentences. When Oren finally got out, the two moved in together. He remembered a mother “with a great sense of humor and a sarcastic wit” who liked to dote on her Chihuaha-dachshund mix, Hercules, and attend daily Mass.
“Every day when she’d go on the bus for her adventures, she would make friends,” Oren said. But he long noted a melancholy that “all of a sudden made sense” when the private investigator hired by Espino to track her down for “No Más Bebés” contacted him. Oren convinced his mother to appear but she agreed to just one day of interviews, according to Espino, and declined to participate in any publicity or screenings for the documentary, which debuted in 2015 and was nominated for an Emmy.
“She put herself out there in the ‘70s in a very public way,” Espino said. “It took a lot out of her. [Madrigal] didn’t want to do it again…She had this shyness of her, but a fierce courageousness. She felt she was wronged, and she wanted people to know that. And she wanted the public to know this violation happened not just to her, but to so many others.”
Oren saw only part of “No Más Bebés” at his home before turning it off “because it was too tough” to bear. His mother never saw it.
“Sadly, a lot of immigrants — a lot of women — they just take abuse and don’t do anything about it,” he said. “She didn’t take what happened to her. She did something about it.”
Madrigal is survived by her sons, Oren and Sergio; four grandchildren, Jose Angel, Jimmy, Esteban and Andrea; and a sister, Antonia Nuñez. Andrea is expecting her first child next year.
KSTP reports State Sen. Omar Fateh announced he is running for Minneapolis Mayor against incumbent Jacob Frey Monday morning. In a post on X, Fateh said he is running to “achieve the vibrant, loving city we know Minneapolis can be.”
Stephen Neukam at Axios reports Sen. Amy Klobuchar is expected to become the number three ranking Democrat in the Senate, and Sen. Cory Booker — who wanted that position — will notch a leadership position just under her.
Kirsten Mitchell at WCCO writes scrap metal workers are suing the Minnesota Department of Commerce as businesses warn that the state’s Copper Wire Theft Law could shut down the industry.
MPR’s Dan Kraker reports that after 15 years of delays, a $2 billion-plus mining project on Minnesota’s Iron Range is being revived and could be ready to ship its first railcars of ore by early 2026.
Via FOX 9: “Despite a quite chilly Thanksgiving holiday, the fall months ended up being the warmest on record in the Twin Cities.”
The Star Tribune reports the band AC/DC will open a U.S. tour in Minneapolis in April. The duo returned to the road in Europe this year after an eight-year absence.
Kirsti Marohn at MPR writes deaths from ATV crashes in Minnesota surged in 2024, with 30 people having died in crashes on Minnesota roads, ditches and trails as of Nov. 5.
Via Axios: “Minnesota’s first dedicated ‘dirty soda’ shop, Sota, opens in Maple Grove on Monday. For the uninitiated: We’re talking about pop with cream, syrups and other flavors mixed in, not using a carbonated drink as a base for booze.”
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have arrested the father of a 9-year-old boy who was recently shot and killed while he was playing in the backyard of his grandfather’s home in Compton, the Sheriff’s Department announced Monday.
Homicide detectives honed in on the boy’s father shortly after the shooting on the night of Nov. 30 in the 15000 block of South Haskins Avenue. His arrest was made on the same day that a vigil was held for the boy, whom family identified as Princeton Nicholas Jones.
Creole Green, the boy’s mother, could not be immediately reached for comment.
In a written statement, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department identified Nicholas Jones, 32, as a murder suspect in the killing. Detectives did not release any details about his arrest. Jones was booked at the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station on suspicion of murder and child abuse resulting in death. He is being held in lieu of a $2 million bail. Reached by phone, Jones’ father declined to comment.
In an interview with ABC-7, Green said she was devastated over the loss of her son, who was just 9.
“I have no words,” she told the station. “I lost my son, my only son, my first-born son.”
In a GoFundMe post, Green said her son was a special young man with a brilliant mind and a warm heart.
“Princeton was a beacon of joy, lighting up every room he entered with his humor and infectious smile,” she wrote. “He was adored by his friends, family, and community, who all cherished the incredible person he was becoming.”
More than 72.3 million people are scouring the internet right now looking for a deal this Cyber Monday.
This is the second-most popular day, just after Black Friday, for holiday shoppers to fill their (virtual) carts with gifts for their loved ones, according to the National Retail Federation, which gave the event its name in 2005.
Consumers are expected to spend a record $13.2 billion Monday, 6.1% more than last year, according to Adobe Analytics, which has been tracking online shopping behavior.
Shoppers who are checking out retailer websites and searching the internet for popular items should be aware of scammers looking to do some shopping of their own.
Online fradusters want to steal cardholder information and money on popular online shopping days like Cyber Monday, Visa’s Ecosystem Risk and Control team warns.
Here are some tips from experts to help you navigate the busy shopping day and avoid online scams, retailer tricks meant to pressure shoppers into making a purchase, and potential porch thieves who hope to steal packages from your front door.
Avoid online scams
When you peruse the internet for sales from specific brands and retailers, make sure you’re clicking on and making purchases from their official websites.
Online security group McAfee identified a surge in counterfeit sites and phishing scams that use the names of popular luxury brands and tech products to lure consumers into purchasing products for what the consumer believes are unbelievably low prices. Instead, they’re giving away personal information (including credit card, address and account information) to cyber crooks.
McAfee researchers found these sorts of scams targeting footwear and handbag brands, including Adidas and Louis Vuitton. Scammers also tricked consumers by using the Apple brand on fake websites linked to stores selling counterfeit Apple items alongside unrelated brands.
Experts say the best way to counter these scams is to be skeptical of a product when the discount seems too good to be true. Carefully check the URL of a website to ensure that it’s legitimate — even minor variations in spelling or style are a telltale sign of a scam.
Consumers are also purchasing popular items from social media advertisements, but that’s an exceptionally risky place to shop, according to a survey by Visa. During last year’s holiday shopping season, the company found, a third of the shoppers polled said they experienced fraud from these advertisements.
To avoid this particular scam, don’t click on unsolicited links. And if you do decide to click, be sure the URL in the link matches the official one from the site or brand in the ad. Spelling errors or strange characters in the URL are also red flags.
Also, when paying online, check the URL to ensure it begins with “ — the “s” at the end indicates a secure connection, Visa said.
Pressure to make impulse purchases
It’s already overwhelming to make your gift list and check it twice to ensure that you’re not missing anyone, whether it be your aunt in Boca Raton or your mailman down the street. It’s even more overwhelming to find one of those gifts on sale at an online retailer, only to see a tag in bold lettering that says “High Demand,” “Low stock” or “In 10 people’s carts,” because your next thought tends to be, “This could sell out, I need to get it now.”
These are often just mind games retailers and advertisers play that are “designed to spur us to make hasty spending decisions,” said R.S. Cross, campaign director for Public Interest Research Group.
The organization found that on top of urgent messaging, some sellers on the online marketplace Etsy are using fake countdown timers on deals that don’t expire.
PIRG tracked 20 bestselling or Etsy-curated products with countdown timers on deals and discovered that 16 timers reset for another 24 hours when the timer hit zero. The other four items further dropped in price when the timer ran out.
Other common tactics include displaying how much an item will cost by making monthly installments that “both make low-cost products’ prices seem cheaper and make expensive impulse purchases more doable,” according to the organization.
To help resist this manipulation, Consumer Reports suggests that consumers create a budget and stick to it. It’s easier said than done, especially when Black Friday deals are presented as limited-ime offers.
Consumer Reports also recommends starting shopping early. If you purchase an item now and see a price that has dropped later, you can contact customer service and they’ll usually refund the difference.
As you search for deals this week, Cross said, compare items across various online retailers “and don’t get distracted by offers you haven’t had the time to think through,” said Cross.
You can use online tools including Google Shopping, Price Grabber and Shopzilla to compare the price of products on various retailer outlets.
Porch pirates
Online purchases are easy because once you click the “complete order” button, all you have to do is wait for the package to arrive at your front door. But porch pirates may also be prowling for packages to arrive so they can swipe them.
These thieves steal packages primarily from residences whose front doors are easily visible and within 25 feet of the street, according to the Better Business Bureau.
In the past year, porch pirates have stolen approximately $12 billion worth of packages, according to Security.org. The security system analysts found that apartment renters experience package theft at double the rate of those who live in single-family homes.
To avoid becoming a package-theft victim, experts recommend that you schedule their delivery on a day you’ll be home. You can sign up for tracking notifications from a retailer, UPS, FedEx and USPS to remind you of the date and time of an expected delivery.
If you can block the visibility of your front door by parking your car in the driveway, that might help keep porch pirates at bay, Officer Drake Madison of the Los Angeles Police Department said.
If you know you won’t be home when a package arrives, LAPD recommends that you ask a trusted neighbor or friend to look out for the package and pick it up for you. Some delivery companies also offer the ability to change when and where a package will be dropped off.
You don’t have to have your package delivered to your home. Many retailers offer the option to have an item shipped to one of their brick-and-mortar stores, and they usually offer pick-ups at a customer service counter or a designated parking space in their lot.
Amazon has pick-up counters or self-service lockers at retailers, grocery stores and pharmacies. FedEx can hold your packages for up to seven days at one of its retail partners, including FedEx Office, Walgreens, Office Depot and Dollar General stores.
If you stick with having your packages delivered and you won’t be home to receive them, there are an assortment of lockboxes and secure, oversized mail slots available, although they can be costly. Alternatively, you can install a security camera or doorbell with a built in webcam, but that won’t necessarily stop the theft. Instead, it can gather the evidence needed to obtain a refund from the shipper and share with local law enforcement.
“If a specific area is being targeted and everyone makes a report, it shows police where porch thief issues are occurring and will allow them to deploy resources accordingly,” Madison said.
